Well here we are. RESILIENT still. As 2020 winds (thankfully) to an end, we are grateful for the RESILIENCY of our residents, staff and families. As the word implies, we adapted and rebounded and strengthened our resolve, in the ever bumpy road that has been 2020. While COVID-19 consumed us day after day, every single member of our team did their very best to make it the best life possible for our residents. In the early days of “no visitors” we became a stronger family – to our residents and to each other. Certainly many of us spent more days together than with our own families, and we made heroic sacrifices to protect the jewels in our vault.

Above, Executive Director Paul Taylor with our Superhero Care Staff. Nothing got past this wall, but just in case – we fogged twice a day EVERYDAY along with endless cleaning throughout the whole home.

But let’s move on because so much more happened this year. Our hair salon was opened and then it wasn’t and then it….well, you get the idea. In the photo below Life Enrichment staff are glamming up residents for a photo shoot, but everyone was in on hairdressing and grooming residents. It was actually quite charming to see some new styles and ‘dos.

As Christmas approached we got together with Bradford Greenhouse Garden Gallery and offered our families and safe and beautiful alterative for gift giving. The Greenhouse came through with this lovely arrangement but we still had TONS of gifts to deliver on Christmas day! HUGE thanks to Gail from Life Enrichment and Christina from the front office for hanging with the residents Christmas day while they opened gifts from families and friends. The care staff jumped in as well, making sure everyone felt the love on Christmas Day. Be sure to check out our Facebook pages for loads of resident photos from the month of December.

(p.s. thanks to Bradford for doing a beautiful job with these gift baskets PLUS they donated several other gift bags for residents without family. T’is the season of giving)

In the halls, throughout the last few months, we adapted to more changes related to testing and screening, but our staff, resilient as always, rolled with the changes. ICYMI – testing is now weekly for staff and Essential Caregivers. While not the most pleasant experience, it is one we embrace as a tool to hold the vault together.

In the halls we danced and hugged and supported each other. And we drank a lot of coffee! Here we must offer thanks to a very generous donor CLUB COFFEE who delivered two skids of kcups on Christmas Eve. Yup, that is two skids of coffee, or 2×100 cases of 100 pods, or 20,000 cups of much appreciated coffee!

Essential Caregivers returned and we greatly appreciate all the support from our families. The rules are not simple, the processes/training/PPE daunting at times, but we are grateful that family members understand that we have only one goal, one duty, one passion: to protect the residents in our home. The oft-used phrase “we are all in this together” could not be more true than it is here. Our own staff were re-educated in the process of DONNING and DOFFING and while it took quite a few days to gets us all prepared, hats off to Candice for ensuring we are all well versed in everything PPE.

Why not keep talking about Candice and introduce Cally? This caring and dynamic duo were featured in our year end fundraising newsletter, helping us raise money for much needed Mechanical Lifts. Read through these pages to learn about this project and more from the development office. Care Connection Dec 2020

As the year runs down, this writer wants to offer thanks. Gratitude to the Leadership Team who have steered us through 2020. To the staff who have honestly and truly emerged as Super Heroes. To our residents who are RESILIENT and complained little, while knowingly missing their families. To our families for their patience and trust, we are grateful for your commitment to our ever changing policies and processes. And to the community at large – we have been humbled by your generosity: Christmas cards for residents flooded our doors; treats for staff arrived almost daily; and letters of support were plastered on our walls. We are truly overwhelmed by kindness that comes from everywhere.

Finally, before we say BUH-BYE to 2020, we have one more thing to be grateful for. It’s this:

On December 22, staff at Grove Park Home were among the first people in the province to begin receiving the COVID-19 VACCINE!! The end is truly and finally in sight.

….And to all a good night. Happy New Year.